Oklahoma-North Texas Game Quotes

By Athletics Communications

University of Oklahoma

SEPTEMBER 02, 2007

OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS
On the game:
“I was pleased with the overall play. I was also
pleased with the backup play. The second- and third-teamers
all really played well. I have been saying all along,
this team is very attentive, they are really prideful
with their practice and their play. I thought overall,
the second half has a tendency to get sloppy, that
didn’t happen here. I thought that we had some
really foolish penalties, and the one fumble and a
couple of dropped passes, those are some things that
we need to take care of.”

On the play of freshman QB Sam Bradford:
“I thought he was fantastic, I mean his whole
demeanor was great. His presence in the huddle, kept
going out and controlling the game, just everything
from communication and then throwing the ball. He threw
the ball fantastic, from the deep balls to some of
those quick bubble screens that he put right on the
money.”

On junior WR Malcolm Kelly:
“Malcolm is second to none when you talk about
good receivers. I’m always careful when saying
anyone is the best, because there are a lot of good
players out there, but he is definitely amongst any
of them.”

On the Sooners’ pass rush:
“I thought it was great. I gave those guys a
game ball. They were really active and those guys really
deserved it.”

On the Sooners’ first offensive drives:
“The first couple of drives were not scripted.
I mean Coach Wilson has an idea of where he wants to
go. Through the week he had planned certain things
that he wanted to do, depending of what happened in
the game.”

On the new kicking rules:
“I always knock on wood because when you get
to where you are a very good cover team, I mean last
year we allowed the fewest yards through the season
in our league, and I’m sure we were decent across
the board. We just have guys that can run and really
cover well, and then Garrett (Hartley) kicked the ball
really well. He gives our guys time to get down there,
and I thought Lewis Baker was just amazing.”

On running up the score:
“Well, we were telling our guys not to score,
if they broke free we were telling them to take a knee
or something. I got worried when Mossies Madu tore
around the corner and looked like he was going to score.
Their style of play didn’t really help either.
They got on the line and snapped the ball with 20 or
so seconds left on the play clock. I’m not criticizing,
I’m just saying that the style of play doesn’t
help either.”

On the OU receivers:
“I think what we hoped would happen tonight is
that our receivers would step up and make big plays.
These guys that you have been watching now are guys
that have been here for three years. I hope and believe
that that will continue.”

OKLAHOMA FRESHMAN QB SAM BRADFORD
On if he expected such a great performance:
“No, probably not, but you have to give a lot
of credit to the guys around me. I played alright,
but they made me look really good tonight. They probably
made me look a lot better than I actually was. Everybody
played really well tonight. The O-line, the running
backs, receivers, the whole offense played well, the
defense played well, everyone played great tonight.
We have a great team. They have been great all week
and really supportive. I think it was really comforting
knowing they were out there with me.”

On the long pass to Malcolm Kelly:
“I missed that one early where he was open and
I knew that and coming back and getting that second
one definitely felt good, but I am still a long way
from where I want to be.”

On breaking the record for yards passed in a single
half:
“I didn’t realize I had that, but you just
have to come out and play hard each week, do the best
you can -- that is all you can ask for.”

On his expectations prior to the game:
“I just wanted to come out and play smart and
play within myself. Take care of the ball.”

OKLAHOMA JUNIOR DB NIC HARRIS
On his interception:
“Anytime you get to pick a ball off in a game
it is fun. I had my hand on two or three and dropped
one. I should have had four, but it was fun.”

On Sam Bradford’s play:
“Sam is a great guy. He came out extremely poised.
He showed a lot of maturity. To come out and complete
18 passes in a row, that is a great attest to his ability
and his skill.”

On DeMarco Murray’s play:
“DeMarco has done a fantastic job. It is a lot
to ask of a guy to come out and have all that on his
shoulders. He came out and did the best he possibly
could. I mean…five touchdowns.”

OKLAHOMA JUNIOR WR JAUQUIN IGLESIAS
On the game tonight:
“As a team we have talked about how we work to
hard to not come out hard. I just want to come out
and help the team as much as I can. Just being around
the guys and making big plays, it is a lot of fun.”

On Sam Bradford’s play:
“He did a great job. You could just tell in practice
on Wednesday and Thursday; you could just tell he was
ready. He made great plays and he had that one run.
He just seems comfortable. He was a leader out there
already. He looked like he had been doing it a long
time. I am looking forward to seeing him play some
more.”

OKLAHOMA SOPHOMORE DE AUSTON ENGLISH
On the defense and the pressure:
“I think we did a good job of executing. We stayed
focus throughout the whole game. I think every one
of the starting defensive ends got a sack tonight.
I think we had great pressure all night up the middle.”

On next week:
“Miami is going to be a great opponent for us.
We just need to have a great practice. They may have
a little better athletes out there but, really, it
is all about what we do. We just need to make sure
we have all of our ducks in a row, so to speak.”

NORTH TEXAS HEAD COACH TODD DODGE
Overall thoughts on the game:
“I just talked to my team and I told them that
obviously Oklahoma is a great football team and they
are very, very impressive. When you play a great team
like that you always have a chance of having a disappointment.
I told my football team that you have to give credit
where it’s due, but part of the final score had
to do with us not waving the white flag. We’ve
got to continue executing to try to execute our offense
late.”

On North Texas’ defense:
Early on we did a few things we talked a lot about.
Playing a good first down defense and forcing the second.
We just tried to stay prepared every time we were in
that situation.

On the offense:
We could never establish anything in the running game
and when you’re facing a two safety look, you’ve
got to be able to run the ball. Those windows in the
back kept getting a tighter and tighter fit. When you’ve
got an experienced defense as Oklahoma has, especially
in the secondary, it’s even tougher.

NORTH TEXAS JUNIOR WR CASEY FITZGERALD
On playing a such a big stage:
“It was a great experience. I’ve never
gotten to play in front of this many fans.”

On playing a team the caliber of Oklahoma:
“They had a lot of speed all over the field.
We can learn a lot from a game like this, they are
a great football team. You can’t get
much better than Oklahoma.”

On the play of North Texas quarterbacks Meager and
Vizza:
“They both made some plays when they were in
there. We just kept playing and fighting the whole
way.”

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